Improvement in clasps for corsets



' UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS A. NELSON, OF BIRMINGHAM, CONN., A SSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND SHELTON& OSBORN MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CLASPS FOP. CORSETS.

Specification forming part ot Letters Patent No. 39,322', dated July 21,1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THoMAs A. NnLsoN, of Birmingham, of the county ofNew Haven, in the State of Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulImproved Device for Fastening` Corsets, 85o. 5 and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this application.

My inventionv relates to a novel method of constructing a clasping orsecuring device for fastening together ladies corsets and other stmilararticles, and has for its object to effect a coupling between the twosteels of the corset, which can be readily made and broken by thewearer, and whichV at 4the same time cannot become accidentallyuncoupled; and to these ends my invention consists in a coupling deviceso constructed and arranged with the two steels or edges which are to becoupled together as that the steels or strips must be strainedalternately in opposite directions to eiect a disconnection of them,aswill be hereinafter more fully explained.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describeits construction and operation, referring` by lettersto the accompanying drawings, making part of this application, and inwhich- Figure l is a perspective view of a pair of steels, such asusually inserted in the edges (which are to be coupled together) of aladys corset, but embracing my improvement. Fig. 2 is a perspective viewof the same, showing the two strips or steels partially disconnected.Fig. 3 is a view showing the two steels still more nearly disconnected,and Fig. et is aperspective view of a pair of steels having the couplingdevice in use previous to my invention.

In Figs. l, 2, and 3 the same parts are indicated by the same letters ofreference.

A andB are the two steels, such as are usually employed in ladiescorsets. On one of these strips, B, are riveted two projecting ears orsmall plates, c and d, arranged near either end of the said strip, asshown, and near the middle of said strip (between the two ears ad) issegured to it anotherear or small plate, e. About opposite to thesethreeplates cd care arranged on the other steel, A, three projectingstuds or buttons, l 2 3, which button into the apertures ot' the threeplates c d e, in a manner which will be presently explained. The stud 1,it will be seen, has an oblon g or rectangular head equal about in widthto the diameter of its shank, while the studs 2 and 3 have circular orbutton-shaped heads. The plate e has cut through it a slot, i, aboutequal in width to the width of the head of stud l, and a little longerthan the length of the head of stud l, (see Fig. 2,) while the twoplates c d have cut througu them holes of the shape clearly shown (steFig. 3) at o.

Having said enough in connection with the drawings to clearly set forththe construction of the several parts, I will now brieiiy allude to theoperation of them.

Suppose the two steels to be coupled together, as seen at Fig. l, (aswhen the corset is fastened around the wearer.) N ow,in order touncouple the two strips A B, it is necessary iirstto spring the centralportions of said strips together, as illustrated at Fig. 2, when theplate e may be disengaged from stud l. One or both of the strips A Bmust then be sprung longitudinally, so as to bring them into theposition seen at Fig. 3, when the plate c may be disengaged from stud 2.Then, by simply movin g the plate B in the direction indicated by thearrow, the plate d will be disengaged from stud 3, and the two steels AB will be uncoupled or disconnected from each other.

It will be understood that by the combinations of relative positionsinto which the steels must be put to eEect the uncoupling any dis--connection by accident (by the mot-ions of the body, &c.) is renderedimpossible.

At Fig. 4, I have shown the old fashion or the mode in use previous tomy invention, in which it will be seen that it is only necessary tocause the two steels D E to approach each other in order to admit of theplates f g h be# coming disconnected from their respective studs u s t,which practice and experience have shown will often be effected by themotions of the body wearing the corset.

It will be understood that, although I have described my invention asapplied to a corset, the two strips may be used or needed in variousarticles and for various purposes, and I Wish my improved mode ofconnecting them together to embrace every use of my invention.

Ol course my improved coupling device may be applied Without departing'from the spirit of myinvention to any two flexible and elastic edgeswhich require to be united and disconnected at pleasure.

Havingfullydescribed the construction and operation of my improvedcoupling or fastening device, and not desiring to limit my invention tothe exact forms of parts, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, isb The employment, in combination with two strips oredges, which can be sprung, as des^ribed, of perforated plates c d e,attached to either of said strips and studs 1 2 3, operating inconjunction with said perfor-ated plates, substantially as and for thepurposes described.

THOS. A. NELSON. In presence of ROBERT DICK,

GEO. E. B. J AcKsoN.

